Leg 1Magdalena Island

First LegMagdalena Island, January 7 - 17 and February 4 – 13, 201970 km through mangroves and sand dunes.$1200 cdnWe will meet in San Carlos on Day zero, at San Carlos Kayaks base, which is right down town next to the main church and plaza. If you are coming into town by bus you will arrive at our exact location, as we share the same location. We are in front of the police station, the park, and the church, so its hard to miss. We will arrange the time by e mail once the date gets closer and we have an idea when people are arriving.At our first meeting, we will answer any questions you may have and we will go over the plan, so we are all in the same page. The next morning after breakfast (at your hotel) on day one, we will drive for 1 and a half hours to our launching spot.Everyone is responsible for their own breakfast on day one.San Carlos is a small town, so we can easily pick you up in your hotel.We will paddle for 10 days through the spectacular and semi-remote scenery of mangroves and sand dunes between Magdalena Island and the mainland.Towards the second half of the trip, we will be approaching the southern end of Magdalena Island, which is more rocky and mountainous, providing us a change in scenery. We also plan to stop by a small fishing Village named Puerto Magdalena, a community of a couple hundred people, where we will stop for lunch.Magdalena Bay is well known for the mangrove estuaries which are the most important ingredient for the biological richness of the area. These mangroves, in combination with the protected waters of the Bay, provide ideal conditions for the seasonal visit of the gray whales from mid-January to mid-March. This Bay is used by this cetacean as mating and calving waters. And, yes, we will be in the middle of it.

There will be plenty of opportunity to hike to the Pacific side of the Island and enjoy kilometers of desolate beach for yourself

The trip will end with a 30 min boat ride back to San Carlos.

This Expedition starts and ends in Puerto San Carlos. We will drive 1 1/2 hours to our launching spot and return home via a 30 min boat ride.

We use a support boat to carry the kitchen, some gear and to get ahead with the meal preparation, so we do not fully pack our kayaks.

It is suggested that everyone bring their own camping gear: tent, sleeping bag, mat, etc. for more details click on the PACKING LIST

Meals from Lunch Day 1 to Dinner Day 10 are included in your booking fee.

We have a fleet of P&H Capella single kayaks and Necky Tofino doubles for our expeditions.

Paddling in Magdalena Bay

​Magdalena Bay is a complex of estuaries formed by mangroves and sand dunes. The mainland side is very flat, while Magdalena Island has two small mountains joined by a 20 km sand bar. San Lazaro, midway along the Island and La Bocana at the southern end. Margarita Island is mainly mountainous.There will be many opportunities to explore the mangroves, bird watch, and possible spearfishing and shellfish gathering.Low tides drain many estuaries, leaving small channels of water only, making navigation difficult inside some estuaries, however, the main bodies of water remain. Some currents are to be expected as well, but nothing significant.A northwesterly wind is common in the afternoons, but is not typical strong enough to stop us from paddling.Since we are close to the Pacific, some fog can be expected, which usually burns off around 11 am.This part of the Baja is the one with the least amount of rain, so we will be lucky if we get any rain.